Is the CEO a Threat to Successful Brand Alignment?

When it comes to getting everyone aligned behind the company brand, the CEO may be more of a problem than the average employee, according to a survey of marketers done by Lindsay, Stone & Briggs, a brand development and marketing firm.

Only 10% of the respondents said employees posed the biggest hurdle to brand alignment; 17% said top management was the biggest problem. Marsha Lindsay, president and CEO of LSB, states, “We hear a lot about how important it is to train employees to live the brand in everything from customer service to sales, and that’s true. But our survey of marketers revealed that top management needs to do a much better job of being the chief brand champions.”

LSB’s survey named channel partners and retailers (41%) as the most difficult group to align, followed by public opinion (20%), top management (17%) and the sales force (12.8%).

In other findings, over 88% of the respondents said “brand alignment is very important or critical to their companies” and almost 92% said “alignment is a bigger issue today than five years ago.” The biggest reason given was increased competition.

The majority said they monitor alignment of messages in ads, publicity, the company Website and direct consumer communications, but not in employee training, new product development or channel partner communications.

Lindsay concludes that the CEO must be the chief brand steward, stating, “Brand-savvy managers align everything behind the brand. It’s how they keep everyone focused on the corporate mission and vision. It’s how they motivate, reward and incent people and allocate resources.”

The results were based on 70 responses to a mail survey. Some results add up to more than 100% due to multiple answers.

Lindsay, Stone & Briggs is an integrated, multi-disciplinary branding firm. For more information, contact Howard Cosgrove or Marsha Lindsay at 608-251-7070.